Aid & Attendance benefits have been available to veterans and their spouses for decades, yet many are not even aware that these benefits are there to help pay for assisted living, nursing home, and home health care costs.These benefits can help cover a large percentage of the cost of care that is typical today.

If you have never considered applying for these veterans benefits, here are three reasons to think about applying as soon as possible.1. The process can take up to 3 to 6 months It may surprise you, but this is a great improvement on the part of the Veteran's Administration. This process used to take anywhere from 9 months to a year. However, thanks to advances at the VA, the process has shortened somewhat. The “wait time” is the amount of time from the submission of the application to the date the VA makes their decision.

In our experience, while we have seen some cases approved in as little as a month, the average wait time is roughly three to six months. If the veteran or surviving spouse applying is over 90 years old, the case is usually expedited.

Additionally, the adult children (if they have been listed as an authorized third party), can call and check status of the claim at least 60 days after the paperwork is submitted to speed things along. VA benefits are paid retroactively to the first day of the following month the claim is submitted.

Despite these facts, the wait time is still the hardest part of filing a VA claim. The time to get started is now.2. Without the VA benefit, your savings will quickly run outCost of Care Continues to Rise I often quote statistics from Genworth's Cost of Care report.1 They have an excellent interactive map showing the cost of care in different situations (home health, adult foster care, assisted living, etc.) across the nation. The prices associated with elder care are astronomical. These facts are even more disturbing when you consider the average amount of savings that the typical senior has.

A New York Times article sited the fact that the average amount a “senior” has in their savings account is around $30,000.2 To put this in perspective, consider for example a senior (65+) who requires care. His income is only $1,200 a month from Social Security. The cost of care at his assisted living is $3,250 a month. This means that he has to withdraw from his savings $2,050 a month in order to make ends meet. At this rate of spending, he will be out of money in about 14 months. (Compare this with the fact that the average assisted living stay is around 22 months.) This creates a great financial strain on family members as well.Social Security in Not Enough Social Security does not provide enough money for seniors to pay for care. Most of these individuals rely on Social Security as their only means of income. The facts are startling: 75% of retirees over 65 rely on Social Security for nearly all or all of their expenses. This is coupled with the fact that in 2013 the average monthly benefit was $1,294 a month.3 When you factor inflation into this as well, the picture becomes pretty dismal. Qualified veterans and their spouses can receive the Aid & Attendance pension in addition to their existing Social Security and pension benefits. This means that, depending on the situation, a veteran and spouse can receive around $2,000 to supplement their existing monthly income. 3. The Veteran's Administration is Considering Changing Qualification Rules Within the VA law, there are provisions that allow for the use of legal planning strategies that immediately qualify you for benefits if you have significant assets. This new law, if implemented, would create a three-year lookback period, meaning, that if you protect your assets with legal planning methods, you will then have to wait three years before you can actually apply for benefits. As we just demonstrated, the average senior could not hope to financially survive a 36-month period on their own. This new law also would create longer wait times, as well as disqualify veterans who are currently eligible for the benefit. To find out more about the new VA law, see this article. It is uncertain whether or not this law will be implemented or not. However, it would be better to start the process now while these proposed changes are not in effect then to wait and find you cannot apply because of these new laws.Alright; I'm Convinced: How Do I Apply? Veteran Support Center provides a simple and cost-free application process that helps you understand the qualifications and takes the majority of the burden of completing paperwork off you and your family. All you need to do is call is call the Michigan Chapter of Veteran Support Center and complete a brief questionnaire over the phone.

To provide the best experience, be prepared to answer income and asset questions as well as have military documents and service dates ready. Our servicemen and women went through some very hard times in the service. It is a shame to see them suffering in their retirement.

But the good news is that they do not have to suffer anymore. They can be honored. And they can satisfied knowing that they are not a financial burden on their family. To find out more about how to apply, visit www.vapension.weebly.com.

Today there are many different routes and methods that are taken when applying for veterans benefits, specifically the Aid & Attendance benefit from VA. To find out more about what Aid & Attendance benefits are, visit our home page.We believe that any process should be based on two pillars:Making sure you qualify before the application is sent.We believe that you should fully understand the eligibility requirements before you start the application process.

Veterans service organizations and VA claims agents must submit your application for benefits because they have a duty to assist, whether or not you are qualified. Simplifying the application process for the family applying.We recognize that you as a family member already have enough stress with caring for your loved one. Having to deal with filling out reams of paperwork is something that we take care of for you.

We will assist you with the necessary forms the VA requires for a ready-to-rate claim. Our goal for you: We want to help simplify for you a complicated process. With that being said, what is a typical scenario for Aid & Attendance?Find out if you are qualified The very first thing we need to make sure is that the veteran served during a “VA defined” wartime period. Here is the official dates.

The veteran would have had to have served at least 90 days of active duty and 1 day during one of these wartime periods:

NOTE:For Vietnam veterans, if you served in country or the surrounding blue waters between February 28, 1961 and August 5, 1964, you can qualify based upon your active federal service as well. Are You Requiring “Aid & Attendance”? This is something that often confuses people we come into contact with. To be eligible to receive Aid & Attendance benefits, you must be receiving care on a regular basis. What kind of care? The VA requires that the claimant (the person applying, whether it is the veteran or surviving spouses) be requiring help with activities of daily living (ADLs) on a regular basis.

These are medical services such as dressing, bathing, feeding, toileting, transferring, sitting, standing, prompting (reminding), personal hygiene, etc. What the VA does not consider when evaluating a claim is things like laundry, housework, and meal preparation. These types of assistance do not fit the VA's definition of ADLs, or medical services. Often we will speak with families who have an elderly loved one who is requiring assistance with house or yardwork, but is doing excellent with regards to their personal health and don't require these kinds of services described above. While this is a good thing, it also means they are probably not entitled to benefits at this time. While they may not be eligible now, they may want to consider seeing if they need to pre-plan for the benefit. This will ensure they are financially ready when the need for the benefit arises. Contact us via e-mail or call 866-667-9360 to discuss pre-planning.Spending all your monthly income on care If the veteran served during a wartime period, and is in need of personal care on a regular basis, the veteran or spouse needs to be spending all of their monthly income on that care.

If a couple makes $2,000 a month, they need to be spending at least $2,000 or more per month on their care costs. Qualified medical expenses include an assisted living/care facility's monthly rent, home caregiver expenses, and out-of-pocket health insurance premiums (Medicare Part B, Blue Cross, Humana, etc.) Other expenses such as taxes, utilities, groceries, etc. are not considered in the VA's formula for eligibility. Asset limits The Veteran's Administration also has asset limitations on how much the claimant is allowed to have. You are allowed to own a house and a car; those assets are not counted. Everyone's situation is different, and we recommend you contact our office more information.What do I do next?

So to sum up, in order to qualify for benefits, the claimant must have:

served or been married to one who served during a “VA defined” wartime period

be in need of help with activities of daily living on a regular basis

be spending all of their monthly income on that care, and

meet the asset test

The first step in our process is to call our office to get some specific information from you. From there, we can determine whether or not you meet the qualifications. If you do, we can begin the application process. Our goal is to be a support to families who are trying to navigate the maze of elder benefits from the VA. Our veterans and their spouses have earned these benefits, and we exist to help connect them with their rewards.